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Kazuhiro "Daimajin" Sasaki (佐々木主浩 ''Sasaki Kazuhiro'', born February 22 , 1968 in Sendai , Japan ) is a retired Relief Pitcher . In his prime, he was one of the premier relievers in both the Japanese and American professional baseball leagues. He threw and batted right-handed. CAREER After playing college baseball for Tohoku Fukushi University , Sasaki was drafted with the seventh pick in the first round of the 1989 draft by the Yokohama Taiyo Whales (now named Yokohama BayStars ) in Japan's Central League . He played for them from 1990-99 before joining the Seattle Mariners in 2000 , when he was named the American League Rookie Of The Year . He decided to leave the Mariners before the last year of his contract in 2004 giving up $ 8.5 million, citing his desire to be with his family in Japan. Sasaki resumed his career with the Bay Stars upon returning to Japan. Unfortunately for him, nagging injuries resulted in his release from Yokohama and subsequent retirement. His last official appearance came as a cameo against the Tokyo Giants on August 9 2005 , as he struck out his longtime friend and rival Kazuhiro Kiyohara in a game played at Fullcast Stadium Miyagi in his hometown. Besides winning the AL Rookie of the Year, Sasaki set several Japanese professional baseball records, including saves (45) and save opportunities (46) for a single season in 1998 ; and played twice in the All-Star Game for the American League, and was selected to the All-Star team eight times while in Japan. Career statistics LIFE OUTSIDE OF BASEBALL In 1991 he married former Idol Singer Kaori Shimizu . Together they had two children. After returning to Japan in 2005, Sasaki began having an affair with actress Kanako Enomoto , who was thirteen years his junior. Enomoto became pregnant and Kaori divorced Sasaki on March 18 2005 . Kanako gave birth prematurely on April 29 2005 . {Link without Title} The affair has caused the popularity of Sasaki and Enomoto to drop considerably. Sasaki's interest in sports extend outside of baseball. In 2002 and 2003 , he lent his name and his pocketbook to Formula Nippon , an Auto Racing series in Japan. His Team 22 won two races in that time. He is known to wear a half sleeved shirt no matter what the weather is. He has also appeared as a judge on the Iron Chef television program. OTHER NOTES He chose 22 for his uniform number, because he was born at 2:22 on February 22 . EXTERNAL LINKS |
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